Ireland have been thrown into a scrum-half crisis with Tomas O’Leary becoming
their second No9 to suffer a freak injury within 72 hours.

Eoin Reddan, the first choice, was concussed in the opening minute of the game against Wales on Saturday. His fitness is still being monitored.

O’Leary would have expected to be in the mix ahead of the announcement today of the side to face England at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, but he has been ruled out after a bizarre accident in training caused damage to his eye.

O’Leary was undergoing speed training with a sled when one of the straps failed, recoiled and struck him in the left eye. “This has caused a bleed within the eye which affected his vision,” a spokesman said.

O’Leary, who will be out for at least two weeks, had missed the last two rounds of the championship with a back injury but was in contention again following Reddan’s injury.

He was struck in the face by the ball as he dived to block a clearance from Wales full-back Lee Byrne. Reddan has recovered but has to see a neurologist to assess if he is able to resume playing. If he fails to pass muster, then Peter Stringer will start with Isaac Boss promoted to the bench.

Meanwhile England confirmed that centre Mike Tindall was seeing a specialist to ascertain if he had any hope of being fit to captain the side against Ireland after he damaged an ankle in Sunday’s victory against Scotland.

Bath’s Matt Banahan is primed to continue in the role he filled so well when coming on for Tindall at half-time. Nick Easter is favoured to take over as captain, as he did at Twickenham.

Graham Rowntree, the England scrum coach, believes that the side are well equipped to cope on the leadership front, declaring that the young players who have come through this season have added value on all fronts.

“I think this group are even more ambitious than the 2003 [World Cup-winning] side,” Rowntree said. “These guys are very demanding of each other and of us as coaches. I have not seen it before. We give them the menu and they decide how to play.”

One of those players is Alex Corbisiero, the 22-year-old London Irish prop who was pressed into action against Italy at just 24 hours notice and has since produced impressive performances against France and Scotland. Corbisiero revealed that he had received positive feedback from Jason Leonard.

“He told me to be a sponge and soak up everything,” Corbisiero said. “He stressed the need to store away every little detail.”

Four of England’s Grand Slam-chasing side have made the 12-man RBS Six Nations player of the tournament short-list: Chris Ashton, Toby Flood, James Haskell and Tom Palmer.

They are joined by Wales duo Sam Warburton and James Hook, Ireland's Sean O’Brien and Ronan O’Gara, France captain Thierry Dusautoir and Maxime Médard.

Italy are represented by scrum-half Fabio Semenzato and full-back Andrea Masi. Supporters can cast their vote for the winner online.